Written in The Stars

Ch. 4 Caught in the Act

It's long passed curfew and most of the students and staff are fast asleep. The night sky is peppered with stars arranged into all sorts of constellations. A rusty, glowing Venus sits in the sky to my left and a red Mars floats to my right. 'The planets are almost aligning' I thought. All of a sudden I trip over something and bump into Gemma.

"Sorry!!" I apologize as Gemma turns to glare at me.

"Aqua, you gotta stop spacing out! You'll get us into trouble!"

"Then how about we go back to our dorms?" I ask hoping to get out of this mess but knowing that there was no way she would pass up an opportunity like this.

"C'mon you know you want to see what's in Scorpio's journal too! It might give you a clue as to why he was so defensive earlier."

I sigh; I'm curious about it but not enough to break the school rules or to anger someone who nearly killed me earlier. Gemma continues walking towards the guy's dorms. Mist begins to creep in and obscures our vision but finally we find ourselves in front of the gates to the guys' dormitory.

"It's locked." Gemma says.

I frown, we walked all the way here just to find out that there's a lock on the entrance?! Ugh and no one can open it except the guys and the staff.

"But I got this." Gemma smirks. She puts her hand up to the gate handle. It starts to glow yellow, green, the normal color of her aura, but then becomes a dark purple. Isn't that...Sagittarius' aura?? Suddenly the lock clicks and the gate creaks open.

My jaw drops in shock, "H-how did you do that??"

"Hehe. I recently learned it from some research I was doing on the abilities of former Gemini Gods and Goddesses. Apparently I have the ability to replicate the aura of other deities, given a small sample of it."

"Wow! That's awesome!!" I cry out, "I'm so jealous."

"I know right." Gemma giggles.

We cautiously push through the gate and gasp.The moonlight illuminates an impressive maze-like hedge snaking around the dorm entrance. We walk through it until it clears, revealing the tall, looming columns of the building.

"Woah, I've only seen this place in holograms." I stare in awe. The dormitory isn't that big, considering that it only holds 6 gods, but the architectures is beautiful and adorned with art and sculpture.

We walk up the stairs to the entrance. As expected, the door is locked. I let Gemma do her thing but then a sound coming from the garden, next to the hedge, catches my attention.

I tap Gemma on the shoulder, "Hey you hear that??"

"Yeah, probably just the gardener."

"Why in heavens would he garden right now?"

"That's true...but so what?"

"What if we're caught?? Besides it sounds like chanting. That's...no gardener."

We direct our attention at direction of the eerie chanting. Suddenly a short, bright flash of maroon light, fills the garden.

"Let's go take a quick look!" Gemma suggests and I agree with a nod.

We descend the stairs and into the hedge, feeling our way to the entrance to the garden. The chanting starts to clearly sound like a male voice but I can't make out specific words.

Finally we approach the exit to the garden. "Let's stay in the hedge and look out." I warn cautiously, "who knows who or what we're dealing with here."

We lean out to the side and my eyes widen. It's Scorpio?! He seems to be chanting something from a book he's holding.

"What's he doing out this late past curfew." Gemma asks quietly.

"Well we're out." I scoff.

"Whatever." She rolls her eyes, "but look! Those black crystal shards in his hands...that's powerful dark magic."

"That's a sin to use those and I doubt he got permission!" I whisper.

Suddenly Scorpio points one hand towards the sky and a streak of red lighting fleas his hand and hurdles towards the top cloud cover. The sky above us turns a dark hue of red, causing me to gasp...a little too loudly.

Scorpio draws his hand back and the sky fades back to its initial state. I gulp as Scorpio turns to glare in our direction. Eek!!

"Let's go!" Gemma whispers in alarm but before we can go, something hits the hedge next to us, causing it to droop and melt away. Poison...

"You again?!" Scorpio says as he approaches us. "Do you have a death wish?" It's obvious that his words are directed towards me. His eyes flash bright red in the moonlight.

"Hey what's the problem you big jerk!?" Gemma steps in front of me. It's a little strange seeing her defend me since she's only like 4'9" tall but as humans say, great things come in little packages. "You nearly got her in huge trouble earlier." Gemma shouts.

"That was her own fault for being so nosy." He glares. I laugh nervously; I am kind of nosy.

"Hey, stop you guys..." I try to calm the situation.

"That's dark magic isn't it?? I could have you reported to the staff." Gemma shouts loudly.

Suddenly Scorpio grabs Gemma by the throat and lifts her up. She gasps as the air leaves her lungs.

"Gemma!!" I impulsively shoot a shower of water spears at Scorpio. They streak across his face, slightly grazing through his flesh but he seems unphased. What the??

Scorpio smirks and throws Gemma to the side.

"Omg are you okay?!" I rush to her but Scorpio steps in the way.

He holds out his hand and thick red liquid comes out, wrapping tightly around my body. Is this...blood?!

"You know, I despise you Aquarians." He pulls me closer to him. "You never know when to get out of people's businesses." His voice is as threatening as a dagger to the neck.

"Let go of me!" I shout while snapping my fingers and transforming into my true form. In an instant, I break his grip with a wave of water, sending blood everywhere.  "I don't care if you hate me but why were you trying to kill me earlier?! I never did anything to you, I barely know you!"

"Stop asking so many questions..." He hisses.

I see Gemma rubbing her forehead as she struggles to stand up. Gemma!

"Fine but don't you dare lay a hand on my friend!" I shout while sending a torrent of wind at Scorpio, knocking him off his feet. Suddenly a dark substance flies towards me. I dodge just in time. It hits the hedge beside me and melts it to goo. My eyes widen in fear. How can his poison attacks be so powerful?!

When I turn around, a shower of poisonous needles shoots through the air at me. Ahh! I close my eyes and create a shield of wind in desperation but knowing it wouldn't be enough to hold the attacks.

"Watch out!" A new voice enters the conversation. I open my eyes and see a bright yellow force field glow in front of me.

What's going on?!

To be continued...